User Adds Car to HomeKit for In-App Controls and Automations, Showing Future Potential

Blogger Siobhán Ellis has successfully integrated their electric car into their Apple HomeKit setup, adding in-app toggles for door locking, climate control, and more.

jaguar car homekit
The setup, which is outlined in detail on the blog Practical HomeKit, allows multiple elements of a Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle to be monitored, controlled, and automated using the Home app.

Using a HomeBridge plugin for the Jaguar InControl API called homebridge-jlr-incontrol, Ellis was able to feed data about the vehicle, such as charging status, charge level, pre-conditioning, and more, into ‌HomeKit‌, as well as send back basic commands. The plugin apparently required "a fair amount" of manual configuration and presented a few warnings, but it works correctly just like many other HomeBridge-based workarounds for ‌HomeKit‌.

jaguar homekit climate control 2
Many functions of the vehicle, including climate control, pre-conditioning, locking and unlocking, and charging, are now viewable and controllable in the Home app from any location.

jaguar homekit home app
Integration into the Home app allows automations to be created based on battery level, such as automatically charging the car from a HomeKit-enabled power outlet when the battery percentage is low. Ellis also has an automation to pre-condition the temperature of the car and its batteries based on events in the Calendar app. It is also possible to automatically unlock the car at a time of day or under certain conditions.

To accompany the Apple-oriented vehicle upgrades, Ellis added wireless CarPlay. Jaguar does not support wireless ‌CarPlay‌, but Ellis was able to implement the feature herself using a wireless ‌CarPlay‌ adapter called CPLAY2air. Ellis also mounted a MagSafe charger on the dashboard for convenient iPhone charging.

magsafe on dashboard
Although this setup has to be created manually via HomeBridge, it shows how it may be useful to add a vehicle to ‌HomeKit‌. Integration with ‌HomeKit‌ opens up the possibility of creating useful Shortcuts as well as Home automations for the vehicle.

With services such as ‌CarPlay‌ available in most new vehicles, new services such as Car Keys expanding, and Apple collaborating with brands such as BMW and Porsche to bring Apple-integrated features to vehicles, it is not inconceivable to think that an official ‌HomeKit‌ integration for cars could be added in the future, especially in view of proof-of-concept projects such as this.

Related Roundup: CarPlay

Popular Stories

CarPlay Hero

Apple Releases Wireless CarPlay Fix

Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed. Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles." If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
maxresdefault

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.4.1 With Bug Fixes

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:11 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.4.1 and iPadOS 18.4.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There have been complaints about ...
tvOS 18 Thumb 1

Apple Releases tvOS 18.4.1

Wednesday April 16, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released tvOS 18.4.1, a minor update to the tvOS 18 operating system that came out last September. tvOS 18.4.1 comes two weeks after Apple released tvOS 18.4, and it is available for the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD models. tvOS 18.4.1 can be downloaded using the Settings app on the ‌Apple TV‌. Open up Settings and go to System > Software Update to get the new software....
iPhone Security Feature 25

Five iPhone Security Features You Should Be Using

Wednesday April 16, 2025 4:15 pm PDT by
Apple has quite a few security features that it's added to iPhones, iPads, and Macs over the years. Now more than ever, it's important to make sure you're taking advantage of the built-in security tools that are available to keep yourself and your data safe, so we've rounded up a list of the most important options. If you don't already have these enabled, you might want to consider turning...

Top Rated Comments

Siobhan Ellis Avatar
52 months ago
Oh wow. I’m the person who did this. I’m just writing a blog on what I do with home integration. Never expected this to get such wide attention.

I knew about the Tesla plug-in, as I’d told a friend of mine about it, so I wondered if there was one for the Jaaaag, and there was.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThexBurning Avatar
52 months ago

You write this like they’ve done something only they have achieved. Why is this article worthy? I’ve been automating my Tesla from HomeKit for 4 years!
You need a hug, bro?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0815 Avatar
52 months ago
pretty sweet ... that is the future. Does one need this? No. Do I want this? YES.

Should try to do the same thing for my Tesla - shouldn't be too hard since Tesla has 3rd party API. Homebridge is awesome to bring unsupported devices to HomeKit (the Ring integration e.g. is even better than what Ring integrates into Alexa which is surprising since both are owned by Amazon).

EDIT: just looked on homebridge ... Tesla integration for Apple HomeKit does already exist: https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-tesla
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannys1 Avatar
52 months ago
You write this like they’ve done something only they have achieved. They've installed a Homebridge plugin someone else wrote in October...Why is this article worthy? I’ve been automating my Tesla from HomeKit for 4 years as have hundreds of other people.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannys1 Avatar
52 months ago
You write this like they’ve done something only they have achieved. Why is this article worthy? I’ve been automating my Tesla from HomeKit for 4 years

I had no idea this was possible. I thought HomeKit was completely locked down and nothing that didn’t have support built in could be integrated with it. If I ever get into automation and IoT, I’ll be sure to give HomeBridge a go!
it’s probably the most open and flexible platform there is with Homebridge. There’s more third party integration than even SmartThings or Hubitat
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
52 months ago
Even used a MagSafe. That’s impressive!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)